


More Than a Smooth Criminal

by Psuedo_sweetheart



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 08:15:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psuedo_sweetheart/pseuds/Psuedo_sweetheart
Summary: Reyes Vidal has a heart, and Sara Ryder steals it.





	More Than a Smooth Criminal

Sara Ryder smiled at him and Reyes' heart seized in his chest. 

'She is going to die here.'

The thought felt like a bullet to the gut. He only thought it because it often felt like everything innocent and lovely died on Kadara. And he only felt it because he hadn't seen a genuine smile in literal ages. Or that's what he told himself anyway as he winked at her and slipped out of the bar. 

He deliberately put her out of mind as he slipped into the shadows, following yet another lead. 

***

They met frequently, rendezvous where death was always a distinct possibility. Firefights, bombs, ex-girlfriends, Ryder stood at his side, ON his side. He wondered if this is what it feels like to have a partner. And why anyone would want to be alone if it was. 

He even talked to Keema about it, expounding on his theories as to why he couldn't stop being terrified that his first thought would come true. Why she felt like a taste of a home he'd never had. Ryder, the Initiative's knight in shining armor, who somehow looked at him, a smuggler and Exile, and saw someone worth fighting beside.

***

When she entered the cave, he thought of his first thought and wondered if perhaps he would be the one to die here. If he had misjudged her, if she saw only the lies and not his truth, if, if, if. But he didn't give himself time to dwell, he had a performance after all. 

*Bang*

Sloane fell, and her empire of fear and hunger fell with her. And it would be worth it, even if Ryder never smiled at him again. Even if Ryder-

But it seemed his luck hadn't yet run out, it seemed as though perhaps the universe was done shelling him out. Ryder was furious and spitting, and he thought he was prepared but...

"I thought I was going to have to watch you die! Jesus, Reyes, if I hadn't seen that sniper, I don't know what I would have done-"

She'd seen the sniper? She saw the plot unfolding, Sloane unaware, and had stayed silent. Hidden depths, a stripe of ruthlessness, a neutral or chaotic label, a desperate woman? It depends on the eye of the beholder, and Reyes saw only...Ryder.

Ryder with a frantic look in her eye, Ryder who had thought the same thought he had. Had thought she was going to have to watch something beautiful die. Him.

For once Reyes Vidal, the Charlatan, Shena- the mouth, didn't know what to say. 

He clenched his hands into fists to keep from reaching out to her, the urge to draw her close and ensure he wasn't dreaming nearly overwhelming his sense. But he didn't know what to say, how to respond to her fear of losing him, a murderous, lying, smuggler. 

She must sense something, or perhaps his face finally gives him away. Ryder's anger leaves her in a rush, her expression softens and before he can give away how deeply her words have touched him, she flings herself into his arms.

He breathes in the scent of her hair, remembers how much she's already lost, and tightens his arms around her. 

"I'm not going anywhere Ryder. You'll have to shoot me yourself if you want to get rid of me," he kisses the side of her head, "and even then I make no promises."

It's a joke in poor taste, but it makes her laugh as he had intended, his mouth finally coming to their rescue. 

She pulls away, and her eyes are bright even in the dimness of the cave. Her smile is even brighter, and this time his only thought is...

'She truly can do anything.'

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this comic on tumblr
> 
> http://icoeurus.tumblr.com/post/159849807485/jokes-on-you-shes-just-a-nice-person


End file.
